Victory Song
Black brother, silenced my song
Upon my wholesome breath—
Condemned to a gas dungeon
I suffocate, shriek in pain
Into cold, stone-stuffed ears.
Your fingers drip with my blood
Staining your nails black and crude.
Vampire, tyrant, rapist
Black brother of the same womb
But cruel as the flares that burn
Poisonous gases into our skies.
I lie manacled in chain
In caves of your callous care
But the day will come when I will
break your hard bones
With my claws tear your brain
Consume you in wrathful fires
To the wild winds expose you
Paint the cruel marks of your sin
On the walls of history.
Then shall I, triumphant
Return to our hapless mother
With bright bouquets of peace.
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Ken Saro-Wiwa (full name: Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and activist, born in October 10th 1941 in Bori near Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa spoke against the country's military regime and Royal Dutch/Shell for the destruction of the environment of the Ogoni people, in his hometown of Rivers state. He was executed on November 10th 1995 in Port Harcourt after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly orchestrating the murder of Ogoni chiefs in a pro-government meeting. Subsequently, he was hanged by the military dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. This act of injustice aroused international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.
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